St. Paul's races past Garrison Forest, 2-1

Long drive yields OT win, title-game bid vs. Spalding

IAAM A Conference field hockey

High Schools

Speed can make all the difference in an overtime field hockey game, and St. Paul's Megan Del Monte proved that in textbook fashion yesterday.

The St. Paul's junior raced past two Garrison Forest defenders to catch up with Christina Boarman's 50-yard drive and fire a one-on-one shot past goalie Sarah Williams for a 2-1 victory in an Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference tournament semifinal.

In the overtime period, played with seven players on each side, both the Gators and the No. 9 Grizzlies (12-5-3) had the speed to strike quickly. The Grizzlies, however, got caught with their speedsters, Kirby Houck and Brittney Williams, in their attacking end when Boarman ripped the ball the other way.

"I knew there were only seven girls on that field and half of them were already up where we were," said Boarman, "so if I get that ball through all those girls, I know [Del Monte will] be able to outrun them."

Del Monte raced past Lauren Sheets and Annika Alexander-Ozinskas about 30 yards from the cage, took the ball into the circle and fired past Williams.

"My goal is to beat the girls to the ball. I beat them and I knew we had a great opportunity once I got to the goalie," said Del Monte, who also assisted on Sarah Seats' goal in regulation.

The Grizzlies, who attacked for the first two minutes of overtime, just could not recover.

"We were all going ahead," said Kirby Houck, "and when the ball got behind us, it was hard to get back around to get to it. We just got stuck up there."

The loss was particularly devastating for the Grizzlies because they dominated much of regulation, drawing 25 penalty corners but managing only a goal from Houck.